Waste Free Challenge 2014 recap!

Posted by Emily Alfred408.50sc on October 16, 2014

When TEA launched our Waste Free TO Challenge, we offered a prize draw for anyone who completed the ten challenges in the summer of 2014. Thousands of people participated, and hundreds took the Challenge online - what we found surprised us.

To get the Challenge out to as many people as possible:

We trained 'Waste Champion' volunteers to test the Challenge, promote it and share their experiences.

We partnered with other groups (e.g. CASSA in Scarborough) to adapt and promote the Challenge to specific communities

We gave workshops and presentations to community groups and attended dozens of events

Some of the results:

The main reason people gave for taking the Challenge was to get and share creative ideas to reduce waste

66% of people thought 'Too much packaging' was the biggest waste problem they face, the next closest was 'Litter' at 11%

More than half of those who live in a large apartment or condo didn't have Green Bins!

Many of those who took the Challenge reported already doing many of the steps - whether they knew it was good for the environment or not. E.g. repairing things instead of throwing them out, buying second hand, or avoiding bottled water.

Those who took the challenge shared great and creative ideas about going waste free by repairing, sharing or reusing things!

Heather found a place to repair her jeans when they started ripping

Ria put up the City waste calendar to help her roommates know what goes in each bin

Chris bought paint brushes and looked for recycled plastic bristles

Joan turned some old blankets into custom dog-beds for her friends' pets

Emily started carrying reusable lunch containers to restaurants for take out

Check out the Challenge, our blog about what we did at the TEA office, and share your stories!

Activate your account

TEA’s Waste Free challenge is a project of the Toronto Environmental Alliance. The project is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Government of Ontario. The challenge is sponsored by CUPE Local 416, the union representing Toronto City workers who collect, sort, recycle and compost Toronto's residential waste.